Following Major League Baseball’s warning to three San Francisco Giants players who inscribed Bible verses on their caps during the club’s Pride Night celebration, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) penned a letter to commissioner Rob Manfred citing concerns over what he called a “pattern of discrimination” against Christian players.“MLB has said this is a content-neutral policy and that MLB ‘respect(s) players’ right to free expression,’” Hawley wrote. “But this is dubious, given that MLB is openly promoting a political viewpoint and possibly compelling adherence to that viewpoint.”MLB declined to comment on Hawley’s letter, though it issued a statement earlier on Tuesday.“To be clear, this routine verbal warning not to wear the hat in future games is not disciplinary and had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message,” the league said in a statement to The Athletic. “We respect players’ right to free expression. … We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as ‘Dad,’ ‘Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom’ and names of family members.”The Giants players were not fined or subject to any disciplinary action by the league.Hawley’s open letter to Manfred stemmed from Friday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs, when three Giants pitchers — Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker and Ryan Walker — inscribed some variation of “Gen 9: 12-16” on their Pride Night caps. A fourth, Sam Hentges, declined to wear the hat altogether, opting for San Francisco’s standard black hat with orange lettering.MLB Pride Night hats have included on-field apparel in which the club’s logo on the hat is filled with a rainbow, a longstanding symbol for the LGBTQ+ community. The Bible verse the pitchers wrote on their caps refers to the rainbow as a covenant between God and “every living creature.”